KeyCamX is one of the easiest to use webcam software for Macintosh. You can use it just for fun or for serious applications including protection of your property. Combining different features of KeyCamX you can create a very sophisticated setup of webcam and networked image storage with web access that is difficult to build with other software within the same price range.KeyCamX requires Mac OS X 10.3 and QuickTime compatible FireWire or USB camera like iSight or any DV camcorder. It works on both PowerPC and Intel Macs as native Java application. It can grab pictures from camera and store them locally, on your iDisk or FTP server. There is also motion detection that can trigger recording of images, playback of audio alarm and launching of the custom AppleScript. For example, KeyCamX can start an AppleScript that will send an e-mail with picture whenever motion occurs (example script included). It is possible to archive all taken images locally, on FTP server or both. There is special automated process that will remove old images from archive. With this version included special Java applet that allows viewing archived images from web browser. Following tips will help you to get started with KeyCamX.Before starting KeyCamXBefore starting KeyCamX please make sure that FireWire or USB camera is not in use by some other video software, like iChat AV. Currently there is no possibility to choose video source from KeyCamX GUI due to the bug in Apple QuickTime for Java. If you have several video devices attached at the same time, KeyCamX will use the first in the list.Starting KeyCamX for the first timeLaunch KeyCamX and press "Start" button. If your webcam is compatible with Mac OS X then you will see images form the live video in the main KeyCamX window with default 3 seconds interval. Status line will display "Working". Press "Preview" button and your web browser will display web page with images being taken by KeyCamX. This web page is stored locally in your "Sites" folder.Registering KeyCamX and licensingKeyCamX is shareware. Unregistered version works without any time limits, so you can checkout its stability with your camera as long as you wish. However, after the 20 minutes it will embed shareware reminder into the every recorded image. If you have bought serial number choose "About KeyCamX" menu and press "Registration" button. Single KeyCamX license is valid for one Macintosh. You can't use several copies of KeyCamX on several Macs with single license. If you are interested there are family and site licenses available. Changing preferencesTo change preferences and settings select "Preferences..." menu. There are 5 tabs of the configurations: "Video", "Local", "FTP", "Archive" and "Motion". Combination of settings from all these tabs works together. For example, if you change Motion detection sensitivity or image size it will affect both local and FTP settings. Local and FTP settingsKeyCamX is very flexible tool that allows you to use both local and FTP storage at the same time. If you wish to store images only locally, then select "Use local folder" in the "Local" tab and deselect "Use FTP" in the "FTP" tab. And vise verse: for the storing on FTP only do the opposite. Of course if you select both, then KeyCamX will use both types of storage.ArchivingPlease note, settings on the "Archive" tab work with combination of "Use local folder" or "Use FTP" settings. For example, if you have selected "Keep all images locally" but deselected "Use local folder" then naturally KeyCamX will not archive images locally. The same goes for the archiving on FTP: you should have selected "Use FTP". It is possible to remove old images from both local and FTP archive. Specify time in minutes at the "Archive" tab when image should be considered old. KeyCamX checks every minute entire list of archived images and if some particular image is older than specified time, it will be removed.Archive browsingIt is possible to view archived images with web browser. Use link "View archived images" at the auto-generated KeyCamX web page. It will display special Java applet that can load latest list of images and navigate through them. This Java applet is very small (12Kb) and has been tested even with Netscape 4 under classic Mac OS. Please note, update of the listing with fresh images happens once per minute. So you may encounter situation when new images have been uploaded to archive, but you can't see them yet with the browser. It is normal situation, just wait one minute and reload list in the applet. In case of unpleasant events like robbery, manually check archived images on your server. It might be that you have evidences in archive that were not yet reflected in the applet listing. So if bandit has cut the wire, you still might get him. (Internet Explorer under Mac OS 9 fails to reload fresh listing. You have to close its window and reopen again. It doesn't affect Internet Explorer or any other browser on other platforms.)iDiskUse your iDisk just like any local disk in your Mac. Select "Use local folder" and specify location for the webcam image in the iDisk. If you want to see webcam images from your .Mac account pages then store images and pages in the Sites folder of your iDisk. With the most recent versions of Mac OS X you should be able to select iDisk from the file dialog when you select image name in "Local" tab. However, you can always specify full path to the iDisk manually. For example, if you .Mac account name is "macuser" then you should specify following path: /Volumes/macuser/SitesAnd then, you can access it from the web:http://homepage.mac.com/macuser/keycamx.htmlRemember to mount your iDisk before using it with KeyCamX. Also, remember iDisk in most cases is the slowest storage possible. So, try to use as big intervals for the uploading webcam images as it's acceptable.Auto start and long term usageKeyCamX can connect to the camera and start recording images automatically. In this case, select "Auto Start on launch" in the KeyCamX preferences. You can also specify KeyCamX as one of your startup items in Mac OS X Preferences settings. If you are planning to leave KeyCamX unattended for several days then consider deselecting "Monitor images" from the main window. It will help to minimize memory and CPU consumption.Motion detectionIn motion detection mode by default KeyCamX takes only single image per event. If you wish to continuously capture images whenever motion occurs then select "Capture all motion" in the "Motion" tab of preferences. In this case, KeyCamX will capture all images of the event with the interval specified at the "Video" tab. If your Mac CPU is less than 1GHz, do not exceed 320x200 image size with motion detection. With faster Mac you can try to increase image size, but always monitor the CPU usage. File Operations Queue
KeyCamX handles video and file operations as separate internal processes. This fact allows having high speed of motion detection and small interval between images even if you have very slow connection. However, it comes with the price: you might stop recording of the images, but there is still quite a long list of files that have to be uploaded. If you will try to close KeyCamX it will notify about files left in the queue. You can always checkout size of the queue by pressing "I" button. There is another implication of having file queue: in case of broken connections KeyCamX will attempt to copy files only 10 times to prevent queue overflow. If connection is not restored during this attempts then file will be removed from the queue. Perfect setup for protecting your homeHere is example of the perfect setup against robbery. Use both local folder and FTP server for archiving images. Enable motion detection and select "Capture all motion". Use sound alarm file from the KeyCamX Examples folder. Edit SendMail.scpt AppleScript from the KeyCamX Example folder with your real e-mail address for notification and location of the webcam image from the specified local folder (please note that SendMail script uses Apple Mail). With this setup KeyCamX will play audio alarm to scare bandits and you will get e-mail every time there is some motion. You can go then to the webcam page and checkout recently recorded images. Even if bandit will take away your Mac, you will still have all images stored on FTP.Speed and stabilityKeyCamX is Java application and using QuickTime for Java. Java is not fault tolerant; so don't use KeyCamX in mission critical applications. QuickTime for Java is also known for having stability problems, especially when Apple is changing QuickTime or Java versions. However, KeyCamX was made in such a way that it will try to stay alive as long is it's possible. Core of the KeyCamX was tested for at least a month of continuous uptime. Amount of loyal KeyCamX customers is also one of the signs for good and stable software. The most critical part of the stability is manufacturer's driver for your camera. Majority of the FireWire cameras are extremely stable and iSight is the best among them. Using DV camcorders is also very reliable. However there are some camera/driver combinations that simply don't work properly. One such example is Lego webcamera (actually it is Logitech Web) with Macam drivers under Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. It might work for days, but then crash several times in the row. So, before blaming KeyCamX, please check your camera with some other software for stability.Any wishes, suggestions and bug reports are always welcome.support@keywebx.comhttp://www.keywebx.com
